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So ... Today started with a little bit of backtracking to see the rock formations that the Great Ocean Road is best known for ... The 12 Apostles (though we found out there were only ever 8 to start with & one gave in to erosion & gravity some years ago!), London Arch (once London bridge ... Until it disconnected from the mainland when an arch met erosion & gravity), The Bay of Islands, The Bay Of Martyrs, The Arch ... & a few other random rock formations that are pretty cool. :0) After a bit of a lightbulb moment, some research & a budget review ... We decided a birdseye view was the best way to go & booked ourselves a helicopter ride. We both love flying so this ticked all kinds of boxes. :0) I was in the back seat so my view was a little restricted & there are a few odd reflections in my pics, but I got a couple of good ones. Our pilot was Isobel with the Twelve Apostles Helicopter Tours & despite it being a bit bumpy due to the wind & weather conditions, she did a fabulous job & made it look easy.
Don't you just love the colours! Aqua, teal, navy, tan & green & all so vivid. I wish I could dip a paintbrush in the colours to create fabrics these colours! :0)
I confess to having no idea which name went with which rock formations, but they were all SPECTACULAR!
It's amazing how the colours changed depending on sunlight & angle.
What an experience! 25 minutes just raced by & we both wanted to do it again & again. :0) But ... Things to do, places to be ... & lunch to be eaten! Tee! Hee! Hee! We headed westward again & stopped into the Warnumbool Cheese World (seen & noted on previous to-ings & fro-ings!) for some supplies ...
... Added them to our local Bunnyconnellon olives brought from home & headed to ...
... A hidden sanctuary in an extinct volcano crater, complete with lake ... Tower Hill near Warnumbool. It was a lovely peaceful spot, with the 'locals' making us feel welcome ...
First came a juvenile magpie ... These musical maggies are a bit different to our QLD locals ... This variety has a white back while we're used to maggies with black backs. Theses guys seem a little larger, too. This bubba wanted us to feed him, but we didn't give in ... The signs said not to, but we also know hooman food can hurt our critters ... Even if they think it's delish! :0) While we were enjoying our cheesey lunch, we also spotted another local on the move ...
It's not a great photo as it was zoomed in as far as I could, but Kenny (or Kaz?!?!) the koala was checking out the scene, dodging camera-wielding tourists (I think they were a Germany family, from the snippets of conversation we caught & our limited German learned while watching Inspector Rex!!) & looking for a good spot for an afternoon nap, having just completed his/her morning nap. :0) And THEN ...
... Ernie (or Elsie?!?!) emu stopped by to try to share our lunch. But we had places to be, so hit the road again ...
Along the way we passed a few of these. It was our first close encounter with the wind turbines & considering the controversy about them being a blight on the view & too noisy, I found them mesmerising & definitely more visually appealing than telephone towers & power pylons. After veering inland for a bit, driving through lush, green farmland, we found the beach again at Cape Bridgewater ...
And the weather was closing in on us again ... But ... Intrepid explorers that we are, we headed off to see the nearby Petrified Forest ...
Here's GB looking like a tourist! Tee! Hee! Hee! The petrified trees were kind of cool & kind of weird. It was almost like a scene from Pompey. You could see the bark, roots & hollow logs like this one & they covered a fairly large area right to the cliff edge ...
Uh! Oh! That haze isn't my fingers in front of the lense (THIS time! :0P ) It's rain coming in off the ocean ... & it was much faster moving than we were! We got rather SOAKED, so stopped off at Cape Bridgewater beach again ... This time at a coffee shop for a hot beverage to warm us up. And then on to tonight's overnight accomodation at the Blue Lake, Mt Gambier, South Australia. Yep ... We've hopped across another border, into another different time zone (Damn you, confusing daylight savings!!) The accomodation isn't quite as advertised, but we're only here for a night & then we'll be out exploricating again. Hopefully the rain that is currently pitty-patting on our roof will clear up by morning ... Otherwise there may be more coffee shop-warm-up stops tomorrow! :0)
And since my body clock is well & truly confused, I'm off to have a cuppa & then to bed. I hope you're enjoying traveling along with us on our grand adventure. :0) Til next instalment ...
BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS
3 comments:
The helicopter ride would have been awesome. Good idea. Lovely lot of locals visited you for lunch. I wonder what day 7 will bring.
What interesting places you are finding. You have now been visiting places I haven't visited yet. One day..... That helicopter ride sounds fabulous. A great way to see the impressive coastline. Thanks for sharing.
Looks like lots of great places. Enjoy have a safe trip.
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